• The Mandarin term “社区发展理事会” is a paraphrase of the English term “Community Development Council”.
• In 1996, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong first mooted the idea of establishing Community Development Councils (CDCs).
• The CDC’s main purpose is to care for vulnerable groups in the community, foster connections between communities, and build a harmonious society. Residents who encounter difficulties in their
  finances, work, or studies can seek help from the CDC.
• In 2001, the CDCs in Singapore were reorganised from the original nine to five, namely Central, North West, North East, South East, and South West CDCs.
• The heads of the respective councils are known as Mayors.
• Currently, the work of applying for financial assistance for residents has been transferred from the CDCs to the Social Service Offices under the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

As of September this year, 300,000 households have benefited from the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers Scheme. (Lianhe Zaobao, 15/10/2020)

• COVID-19 severely impacted low-income households, neighbourhood shopowners and hawkers. To tide them through the difficult period, the CDCs distributed a total of S$40 million worth of CDC Vouchers from 2020 to 2021.ƒ
• In the same year, the CDCs, together with the People’s Association and Grab, launched the CDC Student Meals Scheme, to ensure that students from poor families could afford three meals daily during the circuit breaker period.
• As part of Budget 2021, the CDCs collaborated with the Government to distribute CDC vouchers totalling S$150 million.